U.S. patent number 6,216,640 [Application Number 09/169,629] was granted by the patent office on 2001-04-17 for pet toy.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ethical Products, Inc.. Invention is credited to Alan Zelinger.
United States Patent |
6,216,640 |
Zelinger |
April 17, 2001 |
Pet toy
Abstract
A bone-shaped plastic toy is molded with a tubular central
portion and a partial spherical socket on each end of the central
portion. The sockets are formed by spring fingers which deflect
outwardly to receive and hold a replaceable play ball. Pets, such
as dogs, particularly enjoy chewing on balls and can alternately
chew on one ball, then the other. A scent can be applied to the toy
to enhance its desirability and pet interest. If a ball becomes
worn, it can be easily replaced. Pets can play with the entire toy,
with the balls removed from the toy or with the toy without the
balls, thereby offering a variety of play options for the pet and
pet owner.
Inventors: |
Zelinger; Alan (Newark,
NJ) |
Assignee: |
Ethical Products, Inc. (Newark,
NJ)
|
Family
ID: |
22616497 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/169,629 |
Filed: |
October 9, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
119/707 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
15/026 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
15/02 (20060101); A01K 15/00 (20060101); A01K
029/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;119/702,707,709,710,711,712 ;446/125,102,383
;273/428,146,425,426,424 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Price; Thomas
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Helfgott & Karas, PC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A pet toy, comprising:
an elongated central portion having a pair of opposed end portions;
and
a pair of resilient pockets formed respectively on said pair of
opposed end portions for holding a pair of toy balls on said pet
toy,
wherein said central portion comprises a hollow tubular
portion.
2. The pet toy of claim 1, wherein said central portion comprises a
fibrous portion.
3. The pet toy of claim 2, wherein said fibrous portion comprises a
sleeve encircling said central portion.
4. The pet toy of claim 2, further comprising a scented material
applied to said fibrous portion.
5. The pet toy of claim 1, wherein each one of said pair of
resilient pockets comprises a plurality of resilient gripping
fingers.
6. The pet toy of claim 5, wherein said gripping fingers comprise
arcuate gripping surfaces.
7. The pet toy of claim 6 wherein said arcuate gripping surfaces
are aligned over a substantially spherical surface.
8. The pet toy of claim 7, wherein said opposed end portions define
arcuate surface portions aligned over said substantiallit spherical
surface.
9. The pet toy of claim 8, wherein said arcuate gripping portions
and said arcuate surface portions are aligned on a common center
point.
10. The pet toy of claim 5, wherein said gripping fingers comprise
high friction gripping portions.
11. The pet toy of claim 10, wherein said gripping portions
comprise molded teeth.
12. The pet toy of claim 1, wherein said resilient rockets define
hemispherical pocket portions and open mouth portions opening into
said hemispherical pocket portions.
13. The pet toy of claim 12, further comprising at least one
resilient toy ball resiliently gripped within one of said resilient
pockets.
14. The pet toy of claim 13, wherein said toy ball comprises a
tennis ball.
15. The pet toy of claim 1 wherein said central portion and said
pockets are homogeneously molded from a vinyl plastic material.
16. A pet toy, comprising:
elongated central portion having a pair of opposed end
portions;
a pair of resilient pockets formed respectively on said pair of
opposed end portions for holding a pair of toy balls on said pet
toy, and
a scented material molded into said central portion.
17. A pet toy, comprising:
elongated central portion having a pair of opposed end
portions;
a pair of resilient pockets formed respectively on said pair of
opposed end portions for holding a pair of toy balls on said pet
toy, and
a noisemaker disposed within said central portion.
18. The pet toy of claim 17, wherein said noisemaker has a hole
formed therein and further comprising a scented material provided
within said central portion via said central portion via said hole
formed in said noisemaker.
19. A pet toy, comprising:
an elongated central portion having a pair of opposed end portions,
and
a pair of resilient pockets formed respectively on said pair of
opposed end portions for holding a pair of toy balls on said pet
toy,
wherein each of said pair of resilient pockets comprises a
plurality of resilient gripping fingers, and
wherein said gripping fingers comprise high friction, gripping
portions, and
wherein said griping portions comprise a hooked material.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to chewable pet toys and
in particular to a dog toy having a pair of ball sockets for
gripping and holding a pair of elastic balls.
2. Description of Prior Developments
Pet toys are available in many shapes and sizes for entertaining
and amusing many different types of animals. Toys intended for use
by dogs are often formed of a relatively tough chewable material
such as leather or hard rubber. Although these conventional toys
are enjoyed by most dogs, after a period of time, these toys are
often ignored as a dog loses interest.
Accordingly, a need exists for a pet toy which keeps the interest
of a pet and is used over and over.
A further need exists for a pet toy which provides a chewable
resilient surface particularly adapted for dogs.
Another need exists for a chewable dog toy which incorporates
commercially available balls having a resistance and flexibility
that dogs enjoy gripping and biting.
A further need exists for a pet toy which can be used with or
without one or more play balls.
Still a further need exists for a dog toy which allows for the
removal of one or more detachable balls so as to allow a pet to
play with the balls alone, to play with the toy without the ball(s)
or to play with the combination of the toy and the ball(s).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been developed to fulfill the needs noted
above and therefore has as an object the provision of a dog toy
which provides one or more chewable portions having a resilient
elasticity particularly adapted for biting and chewing by a
dog.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a dog toy
having gripping portions which resiliently and removably grip and
hold a pair of play balls.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a dog toy which
can be scented for increasing a pet's interest and enjoyment.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a dog toy
that generates a sound, such as a squeak, when it is chewed.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a
bone-shaped elastic toy having a resilient hemispherical socket
forced at opposite end portions for receiving and holding play
balls such as tennis balls, with the aid of a set of gripping
fingers extending around each socket.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a pet toy
which includes one or more removable balls which allows a pet to
play with the ball or balls alone, with the toy with the balls
removed or with the combined toy and ball(s) assembly.
These and other objects are met by the present invention which is
directed to a chewable, bone-shaped dog toy having a pair of
resilient sockets for receiving, gripping and holding a pair of toy
balls such as tennis balls. The sockets may include a set of spring
fingers having high-friction roughened gripping surfaces for
positively gripping the surface of the play balls.
The surface of the toy may be flocked or partially wrapped with a
sleeve of fibrous material for enhancing the texture and feel of
the toy as a dog bites and chews the toy. A scent can be added to
the flocking or fibrous textured material to further increase a
pet's interest and satisfaction. The flocked material as well as
the fibrous surface of the tennis balls absorbs a dog's saliva and
tends to attract the dog to play again and again.
The balls may be snapped into and out of the sockets in the toy to
allow a pet to play with the balls by themselves, or to play with
the toy with one or two balls snapped in the sockets or to play
with the toy with both balls removed. When both balls are removed,
dogs enjoy biting, chewing and rubbing on the empty resilient
fingers which normally hold the balls in their sockets.
The aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the
invention will, in part, be pointed out with particularity, and
will, in part, become obvious from the following more detailed
description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, which form an integral part thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a pet toy constructed in
accordance with the invention and showing a pair of balls in dashed
lines;
FIG. 2 is a view in section taken through line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view in section taken through line 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view in section taken through line 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view in fragment of a gripping finger of FIG.
1, as seen from line 5--5 thereof;
FIG. 6 is a view in section taken through line 6--6 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a right end view of FIG. 1 as seen from line 7--7
thereof;
FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of an alternate embodiment of the
invention showing the resilient deflection of the gripping fingers
in dashed lines; and
FIG. 9 is a view in section taken through line 9--9 of FIG. 8;
and
FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of a pet toy constructed in
accordance with a commercially available product.
In the various figures of the drawings, like reference characters
designate like parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will now be described in conjunction with the
drawings, beginning with FIG. 1 which shows a pet toy 10
particularly adapted for chewing and biting by a pet such as a dog.
The toy 10 is preferably molded from a resilient plastic or rubber
material with a durometer and toughness sufficient to withstand
prolonged use and abuse including chewing and biting. A vinyl
plastic material has been found satisfactory for this
application.
Toy 10 includes a central hollow tubular portion 12. As seen in
FIGS. 2 and 3, a noisemaker, such as a whistle or "squeaker" 14 can
be molded or mounted inside the cylindrical cavity 16 of the
tubular portion 12. In this example, the squeaker 14 is molded
homogeneously with the tubular portion 12. The squeaker includes an
annular funnel-shaped or truncated cone-shaped chamber 18 having a
pair of axially aligned funnel-shaped openings 20, 22 with sharp
edges 24. When a pet bites on and squeezes the resilient tubular
portion 12, air expelled from chamber 16 produces a squeak. When
the bite is released, the air reentering chamber 16 produces
another squeak. It is of course possible to mold the central
tubular portion 12 as a solid member, in which case the chamber 16
and the squeaker 14 would be omitted.
Each opposed free end of the tubular portion 12 includes a
generally spherical surface end portion 26 (FIGS. 1 and 7). A
plurality of gripping fingers 28 extends axially and radially
outwardly from each end portion 26. As seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6,
the inner or gripping surface 30 of each finger 28 is somewhat
arcuate, curved or spoon shaped. As best seen in FIG. 1, the
gripping surfaces 30 are substantially aligned with one another
over the surface of an imaginary sphere 32, which, as seen in FIG.
8 may take the form of a rubber ball such as a tennis ball 34 or
the like.
Each gripping surface 30 extends continuously in a circular arc
from each end surface portion 26 about a common center point 36
(FIG. 1). The arc enclosed by surface portion 26 and gripping
surfaces 30 is advantageously greater than 180.degree. so as to
encircle and grab each ball 34 over more than half of its
circumference and surface area as shown in FIG. 1. In this case,
the opening or mouth 38 defined between the free ends of the
griping fingers 28 extends over an arc A, centered on center point
36, of less than 180.degree..
By limiting opening 38 to less than 180.degree., the fingers 28
must be resiliently deflected radially outwardly from their center
point 36 when a ball having a diameter matching or slightly greater
than (or slightly smaller than) that of sphere 32 is pushed into
and through mouth 38. This deflection is shown in dashed lines in
FIG. 8. In practice the diameter 40 (FIG. 1) of the sphere 32 is
set at about 2 inches to adapt toy 10 for use with one or more
tennis balls 34.
Once inserted and snapped into the substantially hemispherical
pocket 42 (FIG. 1) defined by end portion 26 and fingers 28, tennis
ball 34 is securely held to toy 10 so that it can only be removed
with significant effort. In this manner, a dog or other pet cannot
easily remove the tennis balls from their mounting pockets or
sockets 42. A length of about 8 to 12 inches between the exposed
ends of balls 34 has been found acceptable, with a length of about
9 to 10 inches being preferred.
Additional retention and griping force can be applied to ball 34 by
forming a high friction roughened or gripping surface portion 44 on
one or more finger gripping surfaces 30. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5,
small teeth 46 can be molded homogeneously on gripping surfaces 30.
The teeth 46 can be formed as conical sharp-tipped projections.
Alternatively, a strip of hooked fastener material 48 (FIG. 6) such
as available under the brand Velcro can be adhesively bonded to
surface 30 to hook into the flocked surface of tennis ball 34.
Although a scent can be directly molded into the plastic or elastic
material of toy 10, a liquid or other scent can be inserted through
openings 22, 20 of the noisemaker 14 to coat the interior
cylindrical walls of chamber 16.
A scent can provide increased interest in toy 10 and provide a pet
with increased chewing enjoyment. Enjoyment can also be increased
by providing a fibrous chewing surface on toy 10 such as flocked
surface portion 50 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This flocked surface 50
can be formed during molding so as to cover some or all of the
central tubular portion 12. Alternatively, as shows in FIGS. 8 and
9, a fibrous sleeve 52 formed of a felt-like or other fabric
material can be adhesively bonded around the tubular portion
12.
It should be noted that scent can be applied to the flocked surface
50 as well as to sleeve 52 and supplemented from time to time as
needed.
By allowing the balls 34 to be removed from the tubular portion 12,
a pet and pet owner can play with the ball or balls 34 by
themselves in a game of "fetch" or to use the toy 10 with one or
both balls attached. It has been found that dogs also enjoy playing
with the toy itself with one or both balls removed. Dogs seem to
enjoy biting and chewing the flexible fingers 28 when a ball 34 is
removed from between fingers 28.
This versatile 3-in-1 construction should be compared with the toy
shown in FIG. 10 wherein balls 34 are permanently adhesively
affixed to plastic cups 54 which are formed on the opposite ends of
plastic stem 56. This fixed construction does not allow a pet to
play with the balls without playing with the entire toy including
the cups and stem.
There has been disclosed heretofore the best embodiment of the
invention presently contemplated. However, it is to be understood
that the various changes and modifications may be made thereto
without departing from the spirit of the invention.
* * * * *